Amorphophallus

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Amorphophallus >

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Read about Amorphophallus in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Amorphophallus (Greek-made name).Araceae. Giant aroids from the eastern tropics, grown as curiosities in hothouses. Leaves ample; petioles smooth or warty and variously spotted; blade ample, 3-parted, the divisions pinnatifid: spadix long; spathe (or "flower") funnel-or bell-shaped at the base, springing from the great bulb-like tuber in advance of the Lvs., the latter usually pedately compound : differs from Arum and related genera by technical characters. Monogr. by Engler in De Candolle's Monographic Phanerogamarum, Vol. 2, 1879. Amorphophalluses are propagated by offsets of the tubers. These offsets are miniature tubers which grow out of the parent tuber. They are taken off at the time of potting, placed in pots just large enough to accommodate them, in a soil composed of loam, leaf-mold and sand in about equal proportions and kept in a temperature of 65° to 70°. They are rarely, if ever, propagated by seeds in northern gardens, and for this reason, together with their disagreeable odor when in flower, they are not commonly grown. The flowers are like a huge calla except that the spathe and spadix are of a dark chocolate color. The odor is supposed to attract carrion-loving insects, which pollinate the flowers in their native home and bring about the production of seeds. Towards the end of March the plants should be taken from their winter quarters and placed on the stages of a moderately warm greenhouse and kept moist, where, if the tubers are strong enough, they will soon flower. The leaves begin to grow immediately after the flowering season. Toward the end of May, they should be planted out in the open ground, or they may be used in subtropical bedding. Plants should be lifted in the fall, before frost, and potted in any good, rich soil, and placed in a warm greenhouse to ripen off the leaves, after which they may be stored away under the greenhouse stages, or in any convenient place where the temperature does not fall below 50°, giving just sufficient moisture to keep the tubers from shriveling. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Species:

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  Amorphophallus
  bulbifer

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  Amorphophallus
  konjac

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  Amorphophallus
  titanum

unclassified Species:

• Amorphophallus paeonifolius (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson (1977) ?)
• Amorphophallus prainii Hook.f. (1896)